Simple and Delicious Crusty French Bread

This easy Crusty Bread recipe was a HUGE hit this week so I thought I would quickly hop on here to share it. 

Yield: 1 loaf (about 6 servings)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (about 105 degrees F should do the trick)
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour, plus extra for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (you could also mix this dough by hand if you like – just use a large mixing bowl instead).
2. Let the yeast proof for about 5-7 minutes, until the mixture gets all foamy.
3. Add kosher salt to bowl.
4. Add flour to bowl a bit at a time and mix on low speed until all flour is incorporated and dough has just started to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If you are mixing by hand, mix until ingredients have just come together and form a smooth dough).
5. Lightly flour all sides of your dough (don’t mix the flour in – it’s just to keep the dough from sticking!) and turn it over inside the mixing bowl to coat with flour on all sides. Cover with a tea towel and let rise on the counter for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
6. When dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board.
7. Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. do not punch the dough down – you want to keep all those nice air bubbles intact so you have an airy, delicious loaf of bread. (Note: If the dough is sticking to the bowl a little bit, just wet your hand with a bit of water and gently separate the dough from the bowl to get it all out).
8. Sprinkle a bit of flour across the top of the dough, then begin shaping it into a round loaf.
9. Flour a small mixing bowl and place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes or so.
10. While bread proofs, place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460 degrees F.
11. When the oven is hot, you’re ready to go!
12. Tip your bread dough gently out of the mixing bowl and VERY CAREFULLY (without burning yourself!) place it – seam side UP, this time – into the hot dutch oven.
13. Put the dutch oven lid back on the pot, and slide the whole thing back into your hot oven.
14. Cook bread for 25-30 minutes.
15. After about 30 minutes, remove the lid from your dutch oven. The bread should be crusty and lightly browned. Continue cooking, uncovered, for 10 minutes more or until the bread has deepened in color and you have a beautiful brown crust.
16. Remove entire Dutch Oven from oven
17. Lift the bread out of the dutch oven and onto a cooling rack. Let cool for about 20 minutes before cutting into it... and, enjoy!

Menu For The Week of 10/30

I can't believe we are heading into November already!😲 We just had 80 degree days and BOOM! Now it is a high of 48 in Michigan. I'm not complaining, I have actually been ready for the cooler temps. I don't know about you but most of my cute clothes are Fall/Winter stuff. Now that its cooler I enjoy cooking a lot more. This weeks menu is a little random haha. I am trying to use up some things we have in the cabinets and freezer. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions feel free to message me!

Monday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (Can you tell my kids REALLYYY enjoy spaghetti lol)

Tuesday: Mexican Pizzas (we are using ground beef but obvi you can omit that)

Wednesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup w/ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday: Leftover Chicken Noodle Soup (Thursdays seem to be the leftover day for us haha)

Friday: Chicken Quesadilla w/ Queso for dipping (Guyssss, Im going to cook on a Friday... say whaaaa! lol)

Saturday:

Sunday:

Saturday and Sunday are left blank because I go shopping on Friday and at that time I will finalize whats for dinner on those two days. Thanks for tagging along for another week of meals. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to share a few of my fave recipes as well! I promise just a little planning and you can do this! If you need any help, PLEASE feel free to message me. That is what I am here for.

xo,
Megan

Menu For The Week Of 10/23

Hey hey hey!! I have been working since yesterday to get on here and post our menu for the week. My laptop had different plans and decided to update for two days. But, here we are! All updated and still running as slow as ever haha. Below are our meals for this week. I will try and link most of them to Pinterest recipes that I love. Just click the main dish for each day and it should take you to the pin. Thanks for stopping by! 

Monday: Buttermilk Waffles with Baked Organic Chicken Fries

Tuesday: Ground Beef Tacos on a Corn Tortilla w/ Mexican rice and homemade Salsa

Wednesday: Beef Stew packed w/ lots of veggies served w/ homemade Crusty Bread for dipping

Thursday: Leftover Stew. I will make white rice to eat it over to make sure its enough and bellies are full

Friday: Order PIZZA!

Saturday: BBQ Meatballs, Quesadillas, and use up the rest of that delicious homemade salsa w/ homemade Corn Tortilla Chips. (this is our "football Saturday" meal so we like to do appetizers)

Sunday: Baked Salmon and bow tie pasta w/ a creamy garlic sauce and roasted carrots

Menu For The Week Of 10/16

Good evening, friends! I said I was going to work hard to get next weeks menu up on Sunday and as promised here it is. We didn't have meatloaf for dinner tonight (I'm SO bummed... not! lol) so that will be moving from last weeks menu to this weeks. I actually picked up a frozen Beef and Broccoli meal from Trader joes over the weekend and that's what we had tonight. It was AH- MAZING. My husband is super picky and only likes homemade food and even he loved the meal. He suggested I get another bag of it this week *insert surprised ghost face emoji*. If you have any questions about the menu feel free to message me through here or on Instagram. As mentioned before I won't be posting recipes since that would take quite a while to come up with a recipe for each meal. I will however link Pinterest recipes that I love. Just click on the main dish for example: "meatball subs" in this post and it should take you right to Pinterest. Thanks for stopping by :)

Monday: Meatball subs w/Caesar salad topped w/homemade croutons

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Roasted chicken thighs with carrots and parmesan potatoes

Thursday: Leftovers (between the meatloaf and roasted chicken there is bound to be plenty leftover for us)

Friday: Chili dogs OR takeout (I'll let the kids pick this one)

Saturday: We have a wedding to attend! So yippy that means no cooking!!

Sunday: Fried chicken tenders, Mac & cheese, steamed veggies (we love the steamable bag of veggies)

I grocery shop every other Friday so this Thursday I will make a list of meals for the next two weeks and then make a grocery list from that. Friday morning I head to the store with my list of meals and grocery list in hand. I generally stick to what I have planned but if I find something on sale I might switch out a meal for the one I can make on sale instead. That's why its important for me to have my list of meals with me as well so I remember why I'm buying something and if I change my mind I remember what I need to put back.

xx,

Megan

Menu for the week of 10/9

I am going to try and keep these weekly menu posts as short and sweet as possible. Actually, I am lying they wont be very sweet because I don't like sweets and I can't bake. But, you get what I'm attempting to say here. I also want to add that we eat pretty simple most of the time and repeat family favorites. Some weeks I will make a lot from scratch and other weeks we will eat "boxed food" as I call it. Also, some weeks will be much lighter and healthier than others (my husband LOVES southern cooking... anything fried or smothered lol) Please don't judge or be rude if our meals don't work for you. This is just a starting point for you to get ideas and hopefully be able to create your own weekly menu without my help. I wont give recipes or many photos here as stated above, this is just a simple list or menu to help give you some ideas. We are a family of 4. Me, my husband, and our two boys who are 7 and 16 months. These meals will generally be kid friendly. I try not to have too many leftovers when I cook so you can alter the amount being made to work for you. We don't eat a lot of fish although I would love to change that if I could get the kids to eat it haha. So, here's to week one of sharing our weekly menu with you all!

Monday: Spaghetti w/meat sauce and a side salad

Tuesday: Smothered Chicken over white rice w/ green beans

Wednesday: Leftovers (The previous recipe makes enough for leftovers and reheats well so I try to take advantage of this to give myself a day during the week that I don't have to cook)

Thursday: Grilled hot dogs, baked parmesan fries, and pasta salad

Friday: Takeout (I don't always cook on Fridays. Our schedule is usually pretty busy that day so we often pick up dinner)

Saturday: Boneless wings w/fries and dipping sauces (Saturdays have been for "football food" lately so for the next few weeks it will often include things like wings, fries, and meatballs... blame my husband hehe) 

Sunday: Meatloaf w/a brown sugar and ketchup glaze on top, mashed potatoes and collard greens

Lastly, I often keep things like chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas in the freezer for days I last minute decide not to cook. Also pancake mix. perfect to fill everyone up and easy to make. Best part is the kids always think its such a treat to have breakfast for dinner.